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Muggers and robbers who steal iPhones and iPads are going to have a harder time getting rid of their stolen goods thanks to a new partnership between hardware reseller, Gazelle and CheckMEND. According to VentureBeat, Gazelle will begin scanning all the devices that are being traded-in against CheckMEND, which is a service that compiles information on stolen devices from the FBI, police, wireless carriers and others. If the device appears to be stolen or lost, Gazelle will refuse to pay for the device and return it to the sender.

For those of you who arenít familiar with CheckMEND, it is a new service offered by UK company, Recipero. Originally launched in the UK, CheckMEND recently expanded to the US. The company claims it is the largest consumer electronics background reports service in the U.S. Gazelle also happens to be the first US trade-in service to utilize CheckMEND and engage in a policy where it returns goods reported to be lost or stolen.

In practice, the move might deter those who are trying to sell hot products but in reality, I think these people will just look to sell their stolen goods elsewhere. Despite that, this move is still one headed in the right direction.

I beg to differ. All gazelle is doing is prolonging the process of the devices being recoverd. Unless they report the persons information to the police, the device will just be sold on the street for a cheaper price. The thief loses but how much of a loss is all profit.

I think that's a great idea but they should also report it to the police.

I don't understand why people think merchants should turn into a law force. They buy/sell goods and services to us consumers, and that is what they should be spending their time doing. Do we expect Google to report all criminal behavior to the police or FBI? Nope.

Merchants should not be spending their time reporting a stolen device... Or in their case, possibly reporting millions of stolen devices...That takes time. If law agencies did their job, and created some sort of system system where merchants could very quickly and easily send over a serial number notifying a device has been stolen, then yes... Merchants could help out.

Silly rabbits. All the crooks do is just go to Apple's genus bar under warranty. All they do is verify the warranty and not whether the device belongs to the person standing in front of them. Plop, plop, fizz, fizz out the door with a clean device to sell on Craig's List.iPhone thieves find Apple support helpful to them, too | Reuters

Unless Apple (and or the mobile Operators) are on board, these two companies are just blowing smoke. Sayin...

I don't understand why people think merchants should turn into a law force. They buy/sell goods and services to us consumers, and that is what they should be spending their time doing. Do we expect Google to report all criminal behavior to the police or FBI? Nope.

Merchants should not be spending their time reporting a stolen device... Or in their case, possibly reporting millions of stolen devices...That takes time. If law agencies did their job, and created some sort of system system where merchants could very quickly and easily send over a serial number notifying a device has been stolen, then yes... Merchants could help out.

We are not asking merchants to turn into a law force.
But do the right thing. Report stolen devices to the authorities.
At least make things a little more difficult for them.
Instead of just turning their cheek and saying, "Oh, sorry....you did have insurance on your phone right?"
Between the police and the carriers, they are able to pinpoint accurately where your phone is with GPS and triangulation.
But the carriers just want to sell you another phone!

If you had ever lost, or worse, had a smartphone stolen from you, you might have a little more empathy for the original purchaser.